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There are thousands of species of ants found all over the world and in just about every type of land environment. Many species are found in rain forests. The science of studying ants is called myrmecology.
These common social insects live in colonies (groups of related ants). Each colony consists of:
A queen - She has already mated with a male ant, and spends her life laying eggs. She begins her life with wings, which she uses only once, while mating.
Workers - Many sterile (non-reproducing), wingless female worker ants who are the daughters of the queen. These workers collect food and feed members of the colony, defend the colony, and enlarge the nest. Most of the ants in a colony are workers.
Soldiers - large workers (sterile females) who defend the colony and often raid other colonies, capturing slaves.
Males - They have wings, and fly from the colony to mate with a queen. They die soon afterwards.
Ants exhibit complex behavior! some ants build intricate nests, some are fierce warriors, some collect and store seeds (harvester ants), some capture slaves, and some farm fungi (leaf-cutter ants).
Anatomy: Ants, like all insects, have jointed legs, three body parts (the head, thorax and abdomen), a pair of antennae, and a hard exoskeleton. The exoskeleton is made up of a material that is very similar to our fingernails. Ants range in color from yellow to brown to red to black.
Some ants have a stinger and some can even inject poisonous acid from the stinger (the stinger is at the tip of the abdomen, the rear body segment). Ants can also bite using their jaws (mandibles), but they can only swallow liquids. Ants range in size from about 0.08 inch (2 mm) to up to about 1 inch (25 mm) long.
Life Cycle: The life cycle of the ant has four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Fertilized eggs produce female ants (queens, workers, or soldiers); unfertilized eggs produce male ants. The worm-like larvae have no eyes and no legs, but can eat solid food. The larvae molt (shed their skin) many times as they grows. After reaching a certain size, they spin a silk-like cocoon and pupate (in which their body changes into its adult form). It later emerges as an adult. The entire life cycle usually lasts from 6 to 10 weeks, but some queens can live up to 15 years, and some workers can live for 7 years.
Classification: Class Insects (insects), Order Hymenoptera (ants and wasps - insects with a waist), Family Formicidae (over 8,000 species of ants).
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